Vijay Mallya Sentenced To 4 Months’ Jail By Supreme Court For Contempt
The Supreme Court today handed down a four-month prison term and a $2,000 fine to wanted liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya for a 2017 contempt of court case. In 2017, he was found guilty of contempt for giving his children $40 million against court restrictions. The court ordered that the fine be paid to the Supreme Court legal services authority within four weeks or else an additional two-month term will be added.
Judges stated, “We must administer sufficient punishment in order to protect the majesty of justice.
The top court in the nation also ruled that Vijay Mallya’s 40 million dollar transfer to his children was “void and inoperable,” and it commanded the recipients to repay the money, together with 8% interest, to the recovery officer within four weeks. The properties owned by Vijay Mallya could be seized if the money is not reimbursed.
The court ruling stated, “The government of India and other agencies should help in the process. If this is not deposited, the recovery officer might take appropriate proceedings for recovery of the abovementioned sum.” The decision was made by a bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and PS Narasimha.
A group of banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), filed a petition asking for Vijay Mallya to be held in contempt of court and ordered to deposit $40 million that he had received from the offshore company Diageo.
In “flagrant disobedience” of the Karnataka High Court’s orders, banks claimed that Vijay Mallya hid the truth and directed the money to his children Siddharth Mallya, Leanna Mallya, and Tanya Mallya. In a bank loan default action involving his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines and over 9,000 crore in debt, Vijay Mallya is one of the defendants.
On March 10, the Supreme Court announced that it had reserved judgement on the matter. Vijay Mallya was found guilty on two counts: failing to disclose assets and disobeying Karnataka High Court express directions of restriction. He arrived in the United Kingdom in March 2016.
Vijay Mallya, who fled to the United Kingdom, was not present for the hearing.
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